The Gate instead of the Door

[haakon1]

Remember the only discussion about the WOTC advice to speed through encounters like a town's gate guards (or exploring a labyrinth) to get to the fun stuff of combat?

Does 5 take a view on this? Does it talk about speed and play style and "what is best in life"? (I'm not doing the play test.)

Should it?

I ask mostly because I keep seeing the door thread near the top, and keep assuming it's this topic (which I thought was more interesting).

 

[mhensley]

From looking at the new module I assume they've done a 180 on this. There is a lot of exploration, negotiation, and scenery to chew on. You could probably talk and/or stealth your way through the whole thing if you really tried.

 

[slobo777]

From looking at the new module I assume they've done a 180 on this. There is a lot of exploration, negotiation, and scenery to chew on. You could probably talk and/or stealth your way through the whole thing if you really tried.

I think this is a great move, provided there is advice and/or allowances for players not being bored.

Balance between the three "pillars" in the game can be achieved by having PCs which shine in each one (and likely chosen by players that prefer the ones where their PC is good), or by ensuring PC descriptions and abilities feel different but have equal amounts to contribute (player willing) on each pillar.

I'd be quite happy to see a rough, but good enough balance to the combat game, and simply DM/player advice on how to play nice and spot when diverging pillar preferences need to be addressed (e.g. try not to make a whole evening solely one pillar e.g. exploration, when that's Adam's pref, but Bill and Charlie really want another combat encounter).

 

[haakon1]

the three "pillars"

Which are?

 

[slobo777]

Which are?

Combat, Exploration, and Roleplaying

. . . and by the latter, I *think* they are referring to social talky parts of the game outside of the Combat and Exploration parts (which are often full of roleplaying in the general sense too).

 

[mhensley]

I think this is a great move, provided there is advice and/or allowances for players not being bored.

The allowance is the player's own choices. If you're bored and want to fight, there's plenty to fight. It only takes one player to throw down to get initiative rolls going.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

I haven't seen anything regarding this, however I think this sort of thing would show up in a DMs guide in a large section about altering the adventure to fit the group. Modules could be like the playtest one that has enough depth in all three pillars, and then DMs should alter the presentation based on their groups play style.
For combat focused groups this might result in breezing over the gates to get into the 'fun stuff'. Or it might result in a skirmish encounter for tactically inclined groups to set up an ambush/assault.
For social focused groups the gate might be the 'fun stuff' and combat should be breezed through.
For explorers its not about the gate... its about finding the gate and getting there.

Actually this sort of GM advice could really be system-less, or perhaps just DnD and edition-less, leave the crunch of an editions rules in the PHB, MM, and campaign books. {which should be subtitled 'characters' = PC and NPC, 'challenges' = monsters + hazards + conflicts, and 'setting' = geography + politics + setting specific rules/options}

Well thought out 'how to run games for X tier for this type of group' would be valuable and would shape adventure designs...improving future products.
I say this as I am running the WoBS final modules and finding that I have to completely re-write them for how Epic 4E really works in play....something WoTC never got around to putting on paper {if they even know}

 

[RangerWickett]

Please understand that, though it might have come across as a bit tone-deaf to some styles of play, the initial "skip boring encounters with gate guards" line was meant to say, "Don't feel like you have to spend time on everything the characters do if the players wouldn't be interested in it. Game time is precious, so don't waste it doing stuff that isn't fun for you, whatever that is."

Like for me, I won't waste time with boring "kill the random monster" encounters.

 

[Grimmjow]

they are trying to make the game so that you can decide how to run your game. if you want combat to go forever then yo ucan if you want short combats then you can use them too.

you can also mix them. (thats their hopes). they want pointless fights (like random goblins in the cave) to be short while the goblin king fight last's a while.

 

[pemerton]

There is a lot of exploration, negotiation, and scenery to chew on.

Modules could be like the playtest one that has enough depth in all three pillars

Are you two talking about Caves of Chaos, or the new module? Caves of Chaos didn't strike me as being very strong in the social pillar.

they want pointless fights (like random goblins in the cave) to be short

What's the point of pointless fights?